Preterm birth is associated with increased morbidity during childhood. Many studies have focused on outcomes for preterm births before 32 weeks’ gestation, but there are few follow-up data for late preterm infants (34–36 weeks’ gestation).

The risk of respiratory admission during childhood decreased with each successive week in gestation up to 40 to 42 weeks. The increased risk is small for late preterm infants, but the number affected is large and has an impact on health care services. (Read the full article)

Several studies have suggested that very low birth weight young adults have increased risks of physical and health problems, educational underachievement, and poorer social functioning than their peers, but there are limited population-based and longitudinal data.

Former VLBW young adults in this national cohort scored as well as term controls on many measures of health and social functioning, including quality-of-life scores, with some differences largely confined to those with disability at age 7 to 8 years. (Read the full article)

Parents influence their child’s overweight development through lifestyle-related parenting practices. Although broader parenting dimensions may also affect children’s BMI, reverse causality is possible and there have been calls to examine the possible impacts of fathers.

More consistent parenting prospectively predicted lower child BMI with effects equally strong for fathers and mothers. There was little evidence of child BMI influencing parenting. Improved child BMI could be among the benefits of promoting parenting consistency of both parents. (Read the full article)

Fewer clinical trials are performed in children compared with other patient populations. It is unknown how well existing pediatric clinical trials are aligned with the needs of children, both in high-income countries and globally.

There is only moderate correlation between clinical trial activity and pediatric burden of disease, with certain conditions substantially underrepresented in the current research portfolio. Our findings provide a benchmark for prioritizing conditions for study, analyzing gaps, and identifying funding priorities. (Read the full article)

The management of term and near-term newborns suspected of early-onset sepsis, particularly when they are not clearly symptomatic, remains controversial. Methods for quantifying risk that combine maternal factors with a newborn's evolving clinical examination have been lacking.

This study provides a method for predicting risk of early-onset sepsis. It combines maternal risk factors with objective measures of a newborn's clinical examination and places newborns into 3 risk groups (treat empirically, observe and evaluate, and continued observation). (Read the full article)

Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination may provide benefits beyond protecting against pediatric tuberculosis. Evidence suggests links between cell-mediated immunity from tuberculosis and bacterial/viral-related pneumonia but the impact of BCG on acute lower respiratory infection is not fully known.

BCG-vaccinated children had a lower risk of suspected acute lower respiratory infection. Protection was amplified when children were vaccinated against diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP). Number of DTP doses did not modify this effect, but order in which vaccines were received did. (Read the full article)

Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is a leading cause of sensorineural hearing loss and neurodevelopmental impairment in full-term infants. The incidence of congenital CMV infection in preterm infants and the possible associations with developmental outcomes are unknown.

This study defines the incidence of congenital CMV infection in very low birth weight infants and identifies strong associations of congenital CMV infection with hearing loss and adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in this population. (Read the full article)

A growing body of research suggests that the food environment affects children’s weight. Specifically, living in areas with higher-priced fast foods and soda is associated with lower weight and BMI, whereas higher fruit and vegetable prices demonstrate the opposite association.

Using longitudinal data on lower-income young children, this study finds that higher-priced fruits and vegetables are associated with higher child BMI, but not food insecurity, and that this relationship is driven by the prices of fresh fruits and vegetables. (Read the full article)

In children with congenital toxoplasmosis, ocular lesions can be detected and may relapse after birth despite pre- and postnatal treatment. Long-term ocular outcome beyond puberty and associated prognostic factors are unknown due to limited follow-up.

Our study in 477 patients with treated congenital toxoplasmosis who were followed up to 22 years indicated that new ocular lesions can be detected well into adolescence (with a cumulative probability at 18 years of almost 50%), but they rarely cause severe visual impairment. (Read the full article)

Motor vehicle crashes, heavy drinking, and drug use are serious, interactive health concerns for the teenage population. Teenage alcohol-impaired driving behaviors are associated with heavy drinking, parenting practices, and exposure to drinking and driving.

Earliness of exposure to alcohol/drug impaired driving (DWI) and early licensure were independent risk factors for teenage DWI. A strong, positive dose-response existed between DWI and amount of prior exposure to DWI in the form of riding with an impaired driver. (Read the full article)

Rapid and reliable tools for the diagnosis of neonatal sepsis are still unavailable. No single biomarker studied has yielded conclusive results. Genome-wide expression profiles (GWEPs) have been successfully determined for the diagnosis of sepsis in pediatric and adult populations.

GWEPs are described for the first time in very low birth weight infants with proven bacterial sepsis. Our results suggest that GWEPs could be used for early discrimination of septic newborn versus nonseptic infants. (Read the full article)

In parts of sub-Saharan Africa, sexual assault incidence among adolescents is as high as 24%, resulting in serious physical and mental health problems. In the United States, empowerment and self-defense training have been shown to decrease incidence of sexual assault.

This study evaluated an empowerment and self-defense training intervention for adolescent girls in the African context. This intervention proved highly effective at preventing sexual assault and should be replicable in other countries in sub-Saharan Africa and around the world. (Read the full article)

Population-based references of birth weight for gestational age are useful indices of birth size in clinical and research settings.

This article uses 2009–2010 US natality data and corrects for likely errors in gestational age dating to yield an up-to-date birth weight for gestational age reference. (Read the full article)

Available bowel preparation solutions for colonoscopy continue to represent a challenge for children and their families due to poor taste, high volume, and dietary restrictions with subsequent poor compliance and need to place nasogastric tube for administration.

Low-volume polyethylene glycol (PEG) preparations and sodium picosulphate plus magnesium oxide and citric acid (NaPico+MgCit) are noninferior to PEG 4000 with simethicon for bowel preparation before colonoscopy in children. Given its higher tolerability and acceptability profile, NaPico+MgCit should be preferred in children. (Read the full article)

Children with autism sleep poorly compared with their peers. Sensory integration, including use of weighted blankets, is proposed as a means to reduce arousal and stress. There is, however, no evidence that weighted blankets can improve sleep for these children.

This is the first robust study to evaluate the impact of weighted blankets and show that they do not improve sleep parameters in children with autism spectrum disorder. (Read the full article)

Supplemented mother’s own milk is the preferred nutrition for very low birth weight infants.

Through targeted encouragement and guidance, most mothers are able to provide milk to their very low birth weight infants, both for early and prolonged feeding, in an open-bay NICU. (Read the full article)

Pediatricians need to treat overweight in early childhood. Family-based interventions in specialized clinics are efficacious in children age 8 years and older. Data regarding treatment of younger children are limited in specialty clinics and primary care.

This study shows that a 12-month family-based behavioral intervention in primary care is more efficacious compared with Control condition with a child-only focus. Weight outcome differences between Intervention and Control persist in children and parents after a 12-month follow-up. (Read the full article)

Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs), including pneumonia, are in the top 10 causes of death among children in the United States. In high-income countries, 3% to 14% of LRTI hospitalizations have been reported to require admission to an ICU.

During 2007–2011, approximately 31 289 hospitalizations for severe LRTI occurred in children each year in the United States. Children <1 year of age had the highest rates of severe LRTI and accounted for 30% of severe LRTI hospitalizations. (Read the full article)

There is a generational shift in social norms related to body weight among adult population; little is known about the secular change of paternal perceptions of their child’s weight.

A shift in body norms toward heavier weight statuses exists among parents of children, presenting a vast challenge to family-based childhood obesity prevention. Primary care providers can play a more active role in identifying the children with increased weight. (Read the full article)

Among US youth 6 to 15 years of age there are differences in strength by gender and age. Little is known about differences in strength by weight status in the US pediatric population.

This study provides current US nationally representative reference values for 4 measures of strength in youth 6 to 15 years old. Body weight was associated with strength, but the association varied depending upon the measure. (Read the full article)

Overweight and peer victimization are common in childhood and negatively affect health and well-being. Overweight may predispose children to peer victimization, but whether adiposity also increases the risk of bullying perpetration is unclear.

A high BMI at school entry predicts bullying involvement, according to reports of teachers and children themselves. Although trends were visible across the whole BMI spectrum, particularly obese children were victimized and likely to be bully perpetrators. (Read the full article)

Cross-sectional research indicates that teen sexting is common, may be associated with other adolescent behaviors such as substance use, does not appear to be a marker of mental well being, and is probably an indicator of actual sexual behaviors.

Although mounting evidence links teen sexting to sexual behavior, little is known about the temporal sequencing of these 2 behaviors. Knowing which comes first will aid tween- and teen-focused health care providers in their interaction with patients and patients’ parents. (Read the full article)

Little is known about how pediatricians communicate with overweight Latino children and their parents regarding overweight and obesity.

Findings suggest that many overweight Latino children and their parents do not receive direct communication that the child is overweight, weight-management plans, culturally relevant dietary recommendations, or follow-up visits. (Read the full article)

Prophylactic indomethacin in extremely low birth weight infants decreases severe intraventricular hemorrhage and patent ductus arteriosus but it is unknown whether concurrent enteral feeding and prophylactic indomethacin is associated with increased risk of spontaneous intestinal perforation.

The combination of prophylactic indomethacin and enteral feeding during the first 3 days after birth does not increase the risk of spontaneous intestinal perforation. (Read the full article)

Preterm birth and faster infant growth have been identified as independent risk factors for autism-spectrum disorders (ASD). However, associations between prematurity and ASD-related traits as a continuum and effects of infant growth among those born preterm are still little studied.

VLBW young adults reported higher levels of ASD-related traits, particularly traits related to poorer social skills. Within the VLBW group, faster growth in weight, height, and head circumference from birth to term was associated with lower levels of ASD-related traits. (Read the full article)

In developed countries, child health disparities across wealth gradients are commonly widening; at the same time, child mortality in low- and middle-income countries is declining. Whether these declines are associated with widening or narrowing disparities is unknown.

A systematic analysis of the evidence on child mortality gradients by wealth in less-developed countries shows that mortality is declining fastest among the poorest in most countries, leading to declining disparities in this important indicator of child health. (Read the full article)

Obesity among youth can have immediate health effects as well as longer-term consequences during adulthood. Overweight/obese children and adolescents are much more likely than normal-weight children to become overweight/obese adults.

This large, multisite longitudinal study examines patterns of exit from and entry into obesity between childhood and adolescence. Socioeconomic factors, body image, television habits, and parental obesity were important predictors of whether children remained obese or became obese. (Read the full article)

Exclusively breastfed newborns lose weight daily in the first few days after birth. The amount of weight lost varies substantially between newborns, with higher amounts of weight loss increasing risk for morbidity.

This study presents nomograms demonstrating percentiles for weight loss by delivery mode for those who are exclusively breastfed. The nomograms have potential to be used for early identification of neonates on a trajectory for greater weight loss and related morbidities. (Read the full article)

Although we know breastfeeding is beneficial and infant weight gain can predict obesity later in life, the relationship between breastfeeding duration and infant weight gain patterns among populations exhibiting high risk for obesity is unexplored.

This study demonstrates the greater odds of increased infant weight gain for infants who breastfed for shorter durations among those exposed to a high number of maternal biopsychosocial risk factors for obesity. (Read the full article)

Although pediatric professional guidelines emphasize addressing a child’s social environment in the context of well child care, it remains unclear whether screening for unmet basic needs at visits increases low-income families’ receipt of community-based resources.

This study demonstrates that systematically screening and referring for social determinants of health during primary care can lead to the receipt of more community resources for families. (Read the full article)

In most previous studies, transcutaneous bilirubin measurement has been found to provide an accurate estimate of total serum bilirubin levels. However, most of these studies were conducted in settings that optimized accuracy.

This study provides a "real-world" assessment of the accuracy of transcutaneous bilirubin measurements in multiple clinical settings and identification of sources of discrepancy between transcutaneous and total serum bilirubin measurements. (Read the full article)

Current recommendations for the first outpatient visit for newborns are based on known health risks during the first week of life. Knowledge of the relationship between early well child visits and hospital readmissions may inform newborn health policy interventions.

Newborns who have a first well child visit within the recommended time period after hospital discharge are substantially less likely be readmitted. Obstacles to early follow-up should be addressed to reduce the risk of readmission in this population. (Read the full article)

Little is known about the mental health of extremely low birth weight survivors in their 30s. It is also unclear whether being born small for gestational age or being exposed to antenatal corticosteroids increases risk in this group.

In their 30s, extremely low birth weight survivors are less likely to have substance problems but are at elevated risk for other psychiatric disorders. Those born small for gestational age are at higher risk, but those exposed to antenatal corticosteroids are at the greatest risk of all. (Read the full article)

Preterm children often experience poor executive function (EF; skills underpinning adaptive, goal-directed behavior, and essential for positive academic, occupational, and social outcomes). EF matures across adolescence, but the nature and course of EF deficits for preterm adolescents is not well-described.

Extremely preterm/extremely low birthweight adolescents demonstrated small-to-medium deficits across multiple EF domains compared with normal birthweight controls. Preterm children improved on some EF aspects from age 8 to late adolescence relative to controls, but not on parent-rated behavioral EF. (Read the full article)

Subtherapeutic doses of antibiotics have been used as growth promoters in animal farming since the 1950s. Antibiotic exposure during infancy is associated with increased body mass in humans.

The weight-promoting effect of antibiotics is most pronounced when the exposure occurs at <6 months of age or repeatedly during infancy. Increased body mass is distinctly associated with exposure to cephalosporins and macrolides, especially in boys. (Read the full article)

Firearms are among the 10 leading causes of injury-related death for youth and continues throughout the life span. Annually youth homicides and assault-related injuries result in an estimated $16 million in combined medical and work loss costs.

Findings add to the field’s broadening conceptualization of youth victimization highlighting the potentially highly consequential risk factor of firearm and other weapon exposure as a component of victimization experiences on the mental health of youth. (Read the full article)

Almost half of NICUs include low birth weight (<2.5 kg) as an inclusion criterion for car seat tolerance screening (CSTS), formerly car seat challenges. However, little is known about incidence and risk factors for failure in this group.

This is the largest study to date evaluating the incidence and predictors of CSTS failure in full-term low birth weight neonates. Epidemiologic data are provided to help guide future CSTS policies and protocol development for this group. (Read the full article)

Postnatal growth failure is common for very low birth weight infants. Although many of the major morbidities experienced by these infants during their initial NICU stays have decreased in recent years, it is unclear whether growth has improved.

For infants weighing 501 to 1500 g, average growth velocity increased and postnatal growth failure decreased from 2000 to 2013. Still, in 2013, half were discharged with a weight below the 10th percentile for postmenstrual age. (Read the full article)

Research has shown that parent feeding practices are associated with adolescent weight status and dietary intake. It is unknown whether certain factors such as parent and child weight status concordance or discordance influence parents’ use of specific feeding practices.

Findings from the current study suggest that parents use the highest levels of pressure-to-eat feeding practices when parents and adolescents are both nonoverweight and the highest levels of food restriction when parents and adolescents are both overweight/obese. (Read the full article)

Children born preterm at very low birth weight have reduced lung function. Reduced lung function may extend to adult life, but to what extent this outcome is attributable to bronchopulmonary dysplasia and other prenatal and neonatal conditions is not known.

Young adults born preterm at very low birth weight had impaired airflow. This finding suggests an increased risk of later obstructive airways disease and was observed also among those with no bronchopulmonary dysplasia, regardless of other prenatal and neonatal complications. (Read the full article)

Use of a standard treatment protocol with stringent weaning guidelines for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome supports improved outcomes including shorter duration of opioid exposure and length of hospital stay.

We demonstrate generalizability of a protocol-driven weaning strategy for improvement in hospital outcomes for neonatal abstinence syndrome. After adoption, adherent protocol-adopting centers improved outcomes and eliminated differences in outcomes compared with centers with preexisting stringent weaning protocols. (Read the full article)

Executive functioning and excess weight have been associated in both cross-sectional and prospective studies, but mechanisms explaining this relationship are unclear.

Impulsivity and planning at age 10 predicted age 10 to 16 BMI changes, and age 12 binge-eating tendencies mediated the relation between impulsivity at age 10 and changes in BMI change through age 16. (Read the full article)

Adolescent vaccination rates lag behind other childhood vaccines. Text messaging to improve uptake of adolescent vaccines has been shown to be effective in academic centers but has not been studied in other settings.

This study, done in 5 private and 2 safety-net practices, used a bidirectional text message as a behavioral prompt and showed text messaging was effective at increasing uptake of all adolescent vaccines. Costs were similar to other reminder/recall methods. (Read the full article)

Maternal gestational weight gain is associated with childhood overweight. It is unknown whether gestational weight gain programs the child’s health or whether gestational weight gain is an indicator of postnatal behavioral factors.

We disentangled these influences by studying the effect of gestational weight gain simultaneously with postdelivery maternal weight change as an indicator for shared family lifestyle on child’s weight development and found that both had an independent effect. (Read the full article)

Lisa Dahlkvist's penalty won Sweden an Olympic shoot-out against favourites the United States, and Germany forged on, but France did not make it to the last four.

The Olympic women's football final will be an all-European affair after Sweden ousted hosts Brazil on penalties and Germany beat Canada in Tuesday's semi-finals.

History overwhelmingly favours Germany against Sweden on Friday, but in Pia Sundhage, Sweden are led by a coach bidding for a third successive Olympic gold.

Silvia Neid brought down the curtain on her 11-year reign as Nationalelf coach triumphantly as Germany overcame a spirited Sweden side 2-1 to win their first Olympic title.

Source: www.mirror.co.uk - Saturday, May 09, 2020
At least the garish crystal cheetah clutches aren't as saucy as the hamper sent to Kim Kardashian from cheeky Khloé as the family shower each other with odd gifts

Students with dyslexia often struggle with math fluency as well, and scholars at a recent conference put a spotlight on some of the possible connections.